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    Terrestrial Carbon Cycle

    Terrestrial ecosystems play a crucial role in the complex feedback processes between rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and the changing climate. The sequestration of atmospheric CO2 by the land surface is important because it would determine the reasonable goal of reducing fossil fuel emissions, which is at a rather high economic cost. We are exploring the use of remote sensing for estimation of vegetation biomass and modeling of terrestrial carbon cycle.

  • The Greening Earth

  • Hashimoto et al., 2004. El Nin˜o–Southern Oscillation–induced variability in terrestrial carbon cycling. J. Geophys. Res., VOL. 109, D23110, doi:10.1029/2004JD004959, 2004.

  • Kotchenova et al., 2004. Lidar remote sensing for modelling net primary productivity of deciduous forests. Remote Sens. Environ., 92: 158-172.

  • Potter et al., 2003. Satellite data help predict terrestrial carbon sinks. EOS, 84(46): pages 502 & 508.

  • Potter et al., 2003. Continental scale comparisons of terrestrial carbon sinks estimated from satellite data and ecosystem modeling 1982-98. Global and Planetary Change, 39:201-213.

  • Potter et al., 2003. Global teleconnections of climate to terrestrial carbon flux. J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 108, No. D17, 4556, 10.1029/2002JD002979

  • Kotchenova et al., 2003. Modeling lidar waveforms with time-dependent stochastic radiative transfer theory for remote estimations of forest biomass. J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 108, No. D15, 4484, 10.1029/2002JD003288

  • Potter et al., 2003. Major disturbance events in terrestrial ecosystems detected using global satellite data sets. Global Change Biology, 9(7): 1005-1021.

  • Nemani et al., 2003. Climate driven increases in global net primary production from 1981 to 1991. Science, 300:1560-1563 (June-06-2003)

  • Zhuang et al., 2003. Carbon cycling in extratropical terrestrial ecosystems of the northern hemisphere during the 20th century: A modeling analysis of the influences of soil thermal dynamics. Tellus, 55B: 751-776.

  • Lucht et al., 2002. Climatic control of the high-latitude vegetation greening trend and Pinatubo effect. Science, 296:1687-1689 (May-31-2002).

  • Dong et al., 2002. Remote sensing of boreal and temperate forest woody biomass: Carbon pools, Sources and Sinks, Remote Sens. Environ. 84:393-410.

  • Myneni and Dong et al., 2001. A large carbon sink in the woody biomass of northern forests. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 98(26): 14784-14789.
    supplemental information

Climate and Vegetation Research Group
Dept. of Geography,Boston University. Dec-21-2004